La Fresa Francesa

If there comes a day when you leave Miami (and we hope you don’t, unless you’re one of those landlords who increases rent by 300%), someone might ask what you miss about living here. La Fresa is the kind of place that will come to mind.

This Hialeah French bistro is a cultural mashup that feels like it could only exist in our area code. Because where else will you encounter a foie gras and guayaba pastelito in a space that feels like a multi-abuela design collaboration?

photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc

photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc

photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc

photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc

La Fresa’s menu isn’t all Cuban/French fusion—but its location in one of Miami’s most Cuban neighborhoods rubs off in all the right ways. Guava is deployed in the aforementioned foie gras pastelito as well as in a crème fraîche crepe that takes up an entire dinner plate. Other than that, it's mostly straightforward takes on classic French bistro dishes: steak frites, cassoulet de toulouse, French onion soup. And La Fresa does it all really well (for pretty reasonable prices). 

But it’s on the walls of La Fresa—not just the menu—where all the Miami-ness lives. The restaurant is segmented into three different dining rooms, with an aesthetic that seems designed to trigger core memories for anyone who’s ever been overfed while getting their cheeks pinched in a living room that has decades of experience in accumulating tchotchkes. The art ranges from Girl With A Pearl Earring to random needlepoint landscapes, and doilies are abundant. It has an unmatchable charm that makes this place the epicenter of Hialeah date nights and multi-generational celebrations of all kinds. 

photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc

You don’t even have to leave Miami to miss La Fresa. That’ll happen on the walk back to your car, as you turn around and take one more look at this place, framed between an Estrella Insurance office that never turns off its lights and a wallpaper store that appears to be flirting with you. There’s only one city where that meal could’ve happened, and you’re lucky to be standing in it.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc

Pastelito De Foie Gras & Guayaba

Why isn’t La Fresa’s discovery that foie gras and guava go so well together inside a pastelito international news? This could be one of Miami’s greatest contributions to the planet. We need to get this pastelito a director of communications.

photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc

Pommes Dauphines & Caviar

These fluffy potato balls topped with caviar and salmon roe deflate like an air mattress when you bite into them. Just be sure to get a little crème fraîche on each one.

photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc

Gnocchi Parisienne

The creamy gnocchi gets some color after being seared in duck fat. And the texture in this dish comes from strips of speck so crispy they crunch like chicharrón.

photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc

Steak Frites

They cook the hanger steak with NASA-like precision, and provide enough fries to ensure that you will have some for every last bite of that steak.

photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc

Cassoulet De Toulouse

The meat on the confit duck leg is so tender you can knock it off the bone with a stern look. And the white bean stew it rests atop makes for the kind of savory meal that would be so perfect if it was ever actually cold outside.